Alliances
by Polgara218
Summary: Sharpay and Troy are a nice, normal engaged couple. Who just happen to be CIA agents that faked their own deaths and are working to stop a group of terrorists intent on taking over. Perfectly normal, for them. Sequel to Truths and Lies.
1. Chapter 1

_I was going to wait a while to post this but an idea popped into my head. This is just a couple of weeks after the events of Truth and Lies. Let me know what you think._

Sharpay hurried through the building to the elevator. She reached it and hurried inside pressing the button to go to the next floor. Her eyed flittered around the small space, it was an instinct to look for signs of danger.

When the door opened to her floor she smoothed her business suit before moving into the lobby.

"Hello." a receptionist greeted her with a smile.

"I'm Alison Green, from _National Geographic. _I have an appointment to talk to Mr. Johnson." I leaned against her desk tapping my fingernails on the edge.

"I'm sorry, but I don't see your name on his list of contacts." she told me.

"I made the appointment last week." I insisted.

"What did you say your name was, maybe I can schedule you another appointment. We don't have any openings until Friday." the annoyingly nice receptionist continued to smile.

"I don't need another appointment." I gave her a glare I had saved from my ice queen days and turned to walk back toward the elevator.

"Wait," She called after me, "Mr. Johnson hasn't been in all week. I have no idea where he is or who he had appointments with."

"I'll call and reschedule for next week." I said finally turning to go again.

I pressed the button on the elevator and entered just as a man hurried out. I could feel a chill go down my spine but I ignored it.

When I once again reached the lobby I pulled out my cell phone.

"One more missing." was my only greeting.

"That makes three, what are they doing?"

"If you figure it out give me a call. I have to check one more place and then I'll be on my way." I flipped the phone shut and slipped it back into my pocket.

At the nearest trash can I pulled the red wig from my head and threw it away. Lucky for me nobody noticed.

I cut through some small park and headed towards another office building. I was really getting tired of this.

As soon as I entered I went to the bathroom and in a plastic bag left on the counter found my next wig with a note:

_Be careful, Shar._

_Love You,_

_Troy_

I smiled before slipping it into the garbage with the plastic bag. I took my time putting the light brown wig on. After I was sure it was secure I left and headed toward the elevator.

So far so good.

I entered and hit the button for my floor. I was alone in the elevator, which could either be good or bad.

Suddenly the elevator stopped and the lights began to flicker. I grabbed the wall just as it started falling picking up speed.

The cable had been cut! I held on and hoped it would stop but the chanced didn't look good.

**72 hours earlier**

I tucked a strand of my dyed black hair behind my ear and tried to pay attention to what I was doing.

"Why do you think he would go after this guy, Ryan?" I inquired looking over at my brother sitting across from me.

"He has money and connections, he fit's the bill perfectly." Ryan had thought this through.

"You really think they'll make offers to these guys?" this wasn't the assignment I wanted to be working on.

"Yes." he didn't look half as tired as I felt.

I went back to studying the filed until the letters got blurry.

"I can't do this anymore, I need sleep." I told my brother.

He nodded an acknowledgment and I left the room before he could ask me to take the files with me.

When I reached my hotel room I took a quick shower and was just laying down when my cell phone rang.

"Hello." I tried not to sound annoyed.

"How goes Ryan's new project?" a familiar voice that I had been waiting to hear asked.

"Boring, how's yours?"

"Long, I miss you." I could hear Troy's smile over the phone.

"Miss you too." I glanced down at my engagement ring that was still on my finger.

"I have to go. I love you." he said.

"Love you too, be careful." the phone clicked.

I laid back down. Who would have thought, even just a year ago, my life would be like this.

I was just drifting off when there was a knock on the door. I retrieved my gun from my purse and positioned it so the person on the other side couldn't see it. I opened the door a crack.

"Hello?"

"Just me." Ryan reassured me.

I stepped away so he could enter.

"There better be a good reason you woke me."

He held up the morning paper and the headline caught my eye.

_**CIA Agent Dead.**_

"That can't be us?" I said it as a question.

"No, it's not us but it was Director Ellington."

I froze.

"I thought he was working with them." I said in shock.

"We don't know who he's working for." Ryan answered dropping the paper on the table.

"Let's get back to work." I was surprised I was suggesting it but I needed something to keep my mind off things.

The truth was I was shaken. I had no idea who's side anyone was on anymore. How could you know who to trust?


	2. Chapter 2

**71 hours **

"This is pointless." I said after another hour of going through these files.

"What if we miss something?" Ryan had actually volunteered to do this job.

I placed my head in my hands.

"We have no proof that they're even in contact with these people. Troy's with everyone, actually looking for the moles." I sighed in exasperation.

"So you'd rather work with Troy than me?" I could hear the mock hurt in his voice. I rolled my eyes.

"This isn't what I had in mind when we faked our deaths."

"Maybe your just jealous that he's working with Jessica and Sandy."

Jessica had strawberry blond hair that was naturally straight. It hung several inches below her shoulders. She was at least 3 inches taller than me and was only several inches shorter than Troy. She had an athletic build and had played basketball all through high school and several years of college. She was around my age but she had gone to CIA training after us.

Sandy had long dark brown hair with natural caramel highlights. She was shorter than me and had been a gymnast most of her life. She was a year younger than Ryan and I but had entered the training early hoping to pursue the career her mother had once had. In the process of training she gave up several fully paid scholarships.

Ryan and I had both been paired with them at different times for several unimportant missions. Through those missions we had developed a trust, at least as far as watching each others back on a mission. The two were both known for dating almost every male agent in the office and several of the tech guys.

"I'm not the jealous type." was my reply to Ryan as I went back to looking through the files. He shot me a look but let it go.

"Look at these calls he's gotten." Ryan handed me a paper.

"Director Ellington." I looked up and met his gaze.

"He's someone to look into."

I nodded my agreement.

"Isn't this Vera's personnel number?" I had flipped to another page and found that it had no picture.

"We'll look into that one too." Ryan pulled the paper from the stack.

"This one fit's the bill and he was just hired." I added another paper to the slowly growing stack.

"I think we have something to start with." Ryan shoved the other files into a briefcase and set out the files we had agreed to look into.

"Let's start with this one." he handed me a file with a dark haired man's picture on the front.

"He has money, a shady past, and a high position in his company. He works at some fancy bank." I looked up at Ryan.

"Let's check it out, tomorrow. I'll make appointments for the rest of these."

I nodded.

"Let's call it a night." I told him getting up.

"See you in the morning, Shar." he got up and left.

I changed into my pajamas and got into bed. Sleep was a rare thing with my life and I had learned to enjoy every minute I got.

**8:00 AM, 63 hours**

I applied the last of my make up and straightened the suit I was wearing one last time before leaving the bathroom.

We had decided that I would change my wig every stop in case anyone decided to follow our trail. It didn't seem likely with everyone thinking we were dead but I figured it was better to be overcautious.

Ryan had worked the schedule so that we had appointments with people who were in this city, for two days and then we would travel to wherever we needed to go to meet with the others. I hadn't listened when he had listed off the places.

I hurried to the stairs of the hotel and tried to restrain myself from running down all of them. When I reached the bottom I saw Ryan sitting on a chair pretending to read a newspaper. Or maybe he really was reading it, I couldn't tell from this angle.

He looked up at me and waved. I gave him a short wave back and then moved towards the doors. From the reflection in the windows I could see him following me.

I turned the corner and continued down the street to a black van with tinted windows. I got into the passenger side and closed the door. Ryan got in several minutes later.

"Anything in the news?" I asked checking my wig in the mirror.

"Nothing we don't already know." he started the van and pulled out into traffic.

I was about to ask him what that meant when a monitor in the back of the van began to beep signaling an incoming message. I unbuckled and moved to the back typing in the password to receive the message.

"Sharpay." I recognized Jessica's voice instantly.

"What's up?" I shifted myself so that I wasn't wrinkling the suit.

"Sandy and Troy are chasing down a lead while Robert and Don are trying to find a main base of operation. He doesn't want to run the missions out of vans anymore." she filled me in. Laughing at the last part of what she had said.

"Have them go to the Evans Estate," I suggested, " Nobody's been there in years and Mom and Dad mostly keep it around for show. They said I'd inherit it anyway."

"I'll suggest it to them. Did you see the news about Director Ellington?"

"Yesterday, Ryan and I couldn't figure out why they'd want to kill him, We thought he was one of the leaders. We're chasing down some leads that might help."

"I'll go talk to Don. Check in with us tonight."

"Ok." I agreed as the monitor went blank.

Ryan pulled off to the side of the road.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ryan, when will you learn that I'm always ready for everything.

I ruffled his hair before exiting the vehicle and heading to the building.

"Here we go." I told myself.


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I had this entire chapter written out then my computer crashed and I lost it. _

**62 hours and 30 minutes**

I made my way to the door taking slow even breaths as I rehearsed what I would say in my head. This wasn't a hard assignment, I had done a million like it, but this one seemed different somehow.

I entered through the revolving door and made my way to the main desk.

"I have an appointment with Mr. Billings." I told the receptionist.

"You must be Rebecca Embers. He's expecting you if you want to just go on up."

"Thanks."

I headed to the elevator and pressed the button to my floor.

"Hold the elevator." A young man who was probably an intern called. He was flat out running towards me.

Against my better judgment I hit the hold button and stepped back to let him in. Fortunately he was going to fast and couldn't stop in time. He ran right into me sending us both to the ground.I got up and did my best to straighten my clothes.

"Sorry Ms." he laughed getting up from the floor.

I resisted the urge to hit him.

Several more people entered the elevator hitting their buttons and the doors closed.

The man shook hands with every person in the elevator and I stepped behind the nearest person hoping to avoid him.

As soon as the door opened I hurried out of the elevator and to the door labeled Billings.

I knocked once before entering.

"Hello." Mr. Billings greeted me, standing to shake my hand.

"I'm Rebecca Embers." I introduced myself stepping close enough to shake his hand.

"You're here to be interviewed for the new job opening?" he shuffled through some papers.

"Yes." I glanced around his office.

It was well furnished with an expensive looking oak desk and leather chairs. He had several bookshelves lining one wall and on the other wall he had a painting of a forest. The entire wall behind him was a window that gave him a view of several buildings across the street. His desk was cluttered with papers and a lap top was pushed to the side so he had a clear space to work.

Mr. Billings himself had short nicely cut hair that was a dark brown color. He looked like he was around 35. He wore an expensive looking suit and everything about him said that he had money. He was charming but I would guess he was also manipulative. I wouldn't want to work for him.

"Here it is." He pulled a paper from the stack and read through it.

"You worked as a journalist for two years before the magazine you worked for closed. What made you decide you wanted to switch over to being a secretary?" He looked up at me.

"I loved writing in high school and was very happy with my career choice but I'm ready for a change. I've always been good at keeping things clean and in order." I forced a smile.

"It says that you speak French."

"I used to spend my summers in France every year." It was a half truth I had taken several trips to France with Ryan and my parents and I had gone there several times with my job in the CIA.

French was one of many languages I spoke. I could speak more languages than everyone in the CIA office combined. When we had been in training I had taken many of the advanced language classes and had been able to learn the languages easily.

"It fails to mention your birth place." His voice was calm but his eyes were penetrating.

"I was born and raised in Washington." I made up on the spot.

"Do you like the rain?" His voice had an edge now.

"I've never really liked having it rain every day but my mother was obsessed with it."

Another lie. I had always loved the rain but my mother preferred being in warm places.

"Are you married?" He changed his tactic.

"No."

"In any serious relationships that would effect your job?"

"I have a boyfriend but I doubt it would effect my job in any way."

"Have you ever been engaged?"

"No! Not even close!"

He nodded and seemed to contemplate things for a minute.

"I'll call you if you get the job." I passed whatever test he had just given me.

"Thank you for your time."

I exited the office and went to the stairs. I wasn't risking being stuck in the elevator with anymore overly exited interns.

I walked slowly from the building and to the van.

"What did you think?" Ryan asked when I had gotten in and closed the door.

"He's definitely someone to keep an eye on." I leaned back against the seat.

"You look tired, want me to take the next one?"

"Sure."

Ryan drove to the next place on our list and grabbed a bag with disguises in it from the back seat.

"Be careful." I warned as he got out.

"Always am."

I watched as he walked from the car and entered the building. I slid to the back of the van and pulled out the list. I went through several more files looking for anything unusual and found nothing.

I then began filing my nails. It had become something I did when I was nervous.

A half an hour went by and then an hour. I watched the clock as the time slowly drifted by.

"Where is he?" I asked the empty van as another half an hour went by.


	4. Chapter 4

**60 Hours**

"Where is he?" I asked the empty van as another half an hour went by.

I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and entered Ryan's number.

"Hello?" he answered after several rings.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"Sorry, work's going later than I thought. I'm just wrapping things up. I'll see you soon." He hung up before I could answer.

I waited for 15 more minutes before Ryan entered the car.

"You had me worried sick." I greeted him.

"Sorry, the guy was giving me a detailed story of his life. We had just gotten to the birth of his first child." he said dryly.

"What do you think?"

"The only thing he's guilty of is being obnoxious."

I hid my smile as I sat in the passenger seat.

"Let's call it a day and we can get some lunch." he added as he started the car.

"Whatever you think is best, brother dear."

*********

Ryan stopped at a little café at the corner of some busy street. The café was small but it had a good selection of sandwiches and soups.

I ordered the clam chowder which they insisted they were famous for and Ryan got a meatball sandwich.

"Two down, four to go." I told him as we took our seat at a back table.

"At least in this city." he added.

"Ryan, if we find one or two we can see who they're in contact with and not have to continue this."

"I doubt they'll have them in contact with each other." Ryan destroyed my hopes of getting this job done and returning to work with my fiancé.

"I thought I would be planning my wedding right now, not pretending to be dead." I sighed.

"Why didn't you and Troy get married after we faked our deaths?" Ryan inquired.

"When I marry Troy I want it to be Sharpay Evans marrying Troy Bolton. If I married Troy now it would be Charlene Edmund marrying Truman Bold"

"You'll figure things out." he reassured me.

We finished eating and got back in the van.

"Who's next?" I asked as I watched the cars from the window.

"Tanner Blackwood, He's the one who's been in contact with Vera."

I changed my disguise in the back of the van while Ryan was driving. He pulled up right to the curb and I exited without a word of parting.

"I'm Julia Reed, I have an appointment."

The receptionist checked her files and sent me to the next floor where I would have to check with the secretary.

I rolled my eyes but made my way to the elevator. It would look suspicious if I took the stairs.

When I reached the floor I stepped out into a nicely furnished waiting room.

"Hello." The secretary greeted me perkily.

"I'm Julia Reed, I have an appointment with Mr. Blackwood." I introduced myself moving to her desk.

"I'm sorry but Mr. Blackwood is out for the next little while."

I noticed that she didn't give a time when he would be back. That was always a sign something was wrong.

"Then I'll wait for him here." I turned to take a seat.

"I mean days." she let panic creep into her nice façade.

"How long?"

"I don't know," she returned to her overly nice self, " but I'll call you and reschedule when I find out."

"I'm a very busy person, I don't have time to wait for your employer to get back from vacation."

"Then what would you propose I do?" she challenged.

"I'll be in touch." I called over my shoulder as I turned the corner, out of her sight.

I moved to the edge so that I could listen to what was going on in her waiting room.

"He's missing," I heard her frantic voice say into the phone, "He just disappeared and I have no idea where he went!"

She paused to listen.

"I can't keep it up much longer." she finally said.

I turned and went to the elevator, I had heard all I needed to hear. This could be bigger than we thought.

I moved as fast as I dared through the main room and out the door.

"Something's going on, Ry." was my only greeting as I got back in the van.

"That's why were doing this." He pointed out.

"No, I think this Is bigger than we originally thought."

"How much bigger can it get than it already is?"

"I think we're about to find out."


	5. Chapter 5

**42 hours**

I was sitting on a bench in the air-port waiting for the rest of the team to get here. Ryan was pacing several steps away from me, and the way he was going I had a feeling he was going to ruin his shoes.

"Calm down, Ry." I brushed a loose strand of black hair behind me ear. He took a seat next to me and started tapping his foot.

"Where are they?" he suddenly exclaimed causing several people to look over.

"There plane hasn't even landed yet." I pointed out.

"How can you be so calm and patient?"

"Years of practice." I folded my arms.

"I'm going to go check the flight's again."

"Sit down, Ryan. You're going to get us kicked out of the building."

I pulled a nail file from my purse and began filing my thumb nail.

"They should be landing right now." Ryan said glancing at his watch.

"Why don't you go get the car started. I'll bring them out when they get here."

"But what if"

I cut him off, "Go, you're annoying me."

He stocked off muttering under his breath about the transportation system. I rolled my eyes and went back to my nails.

"Hey Shar." I heard a familiar voice greet me.

"Jess." I didn't have to look up.

"The others are on their way." She didn't sound happy to see me.

I slipped the nail file back into my purse.

"Ryan's waiting in the car if you want to head out."

"Sure." she turned grabbed her luggage and headed toward the exit. I was happy to see her leave.

We had once gotten along really well. Then she had dated my ex-boyfriend a week after we broke up and things had gone down hill from there. We were civil, most of the time, at least.

Don came around the corner walking with a bleach blond Sandy.

"You hair!" I exclaimed going to give them a hug.

"What do you think?" she pulled back so I could see better.

"It's nice." Sandy and I were still on good terms. We both got along well and were a lot alike.

"Where's Jessica." Don was all business.

"Waiting in the car with Ryan." I looked around behind them for my missing fiancé.

"Troy's on a later flight," Sandy followed my gaze, "We tried to space ourselves out as much as possible. We don't need anyone getting suspicious."

"Why don't you go and have Ryan drive you to the hotel. I'll wait here and we'll take a cab back." I suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." Don turned and grabbed his things.

Sandy rolled her eyes, "We'll see you in a little while, Shar." She hurried to follow the retreating Don.

I sat back down and grabbed a newspaper from one of the tables. On the front page an article read:

**CIA Investigation Continues**

**The investigation for a murdered CIA agent continues. They still have no leads or suspects but new director Jonathon Myles assures us they are doing everything they can to get to the bottom of this.**

The paper fell from my hand and fluttered to the floor.

Johnny was the new director. I still hadn't given up hope that he was innocent but there was no way the terrorist organization would let him take over if he wasn't working with them.

I closed my eyes and placed my head in my hand. I couldn't believe all the twists and turns my life had taken. I didn't know what would happen next.

"Hey." a wonderfully familiar voice that I would know anywhere said.

"Troy!" I stood and ran into his open arms.

"I've missed you."

"I missed you too."

I smiled as I looked up into his wonderful eyes.

Then I heard a gun-shot.


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks for the reviews. I really appreciate them._

Then I heard a gun-shot.

**41 hours**

Troy and I dived for the ground, sliding under one of the benches.

"Did you see who shot?" He asked.

"No, but I don't think it was shot at us. No one knows were even alive." I shifted my position.

"We need to go see if anyone was hurt." He helped me up from the ground. We slowly walked toward the entrance looking for anything unusual. I was horrified at the sight I saw by the door.

**********

_**Ryan**_

"Calm down, Ry." Sharpay told me.

"Where are they?" I couldn't help but feel like time was slipping through my fingers. I had no idea what deadline things were counting down to, but I knew it wasn't a good one.

"There plane hasn't even landed yet." She pointed out.

"How can you be so calm and patient?" I wondered whether she could feel that same countdown. She had been on edge the last couple of days, but now she seemed so calm and collected. Maybe it had to do with Troy coming.

"Years of practice." She didn't even realize I wasn't paying attention.

"I'm going to go check the flight's again."

"Sit down, Ryan. You're going to get us kicked out of the building." She pulled a file from her purse and went to work on her already perfect nails.

"They should be landing right now." I said glancing at my watch.

"Why don't you go get the car started. I'll bring them out when they get here."

"But what if"

She cut me off, "Go, you're annoying me."

I walked away muttering under my breath about the unreliable transportation system. I wondered whether they were always late or they just decided to be late when I wanted them to cooperate.

I fished the keys out of my pocket and opened the door of the car. I missed my old one, but I couldn't really just go up to them and ask for it back.

I sat in the seat and started the engine. I waited several seconds until I was sure I was just hearing the normal hum of the engine. I was probably paranoid, but I would rather be safe then sorry.

I pulled around to the front so that we could leave as soon as they got out. I couldn't help but see every time the clock changed to another minute. I pulled out another file hoping to distract myself.

I was barely halfway through the file when there was a knock on the door. I looked up and saw an agitated Jessica waiting to be let in. I unlocked the door and trunk and hurried out to help her with her luggage.

"Hey, Ry." she set down her carry on to give me a hug.

"Jessica." Sharpay threw a fit when I called her by her nickname.

I pulled away from her and picked up her suitcase. After both her suitcase and carry on were secure in the trunk I walked back around to the driver's seat and she took the passenger's.

"Where are the others?" I asked when she was settled.

"Don and Sandy should be on their way. Troy's on another flight." She checked her make up in the mirror.

"How's Sandy doing?" I turned to glance out the back window, hoping to see them.

"Fine. How are you doing?" She turned in her seat to look at me.

"Fine." I didn't meet her eyes.

"Is your sister serious about Troy?" She asked innocently.

"They're engaged." I could suddenly see why she and Shar never got along.

"Troy never mentioned that?"

Before I could reply I saw a girl with luggage hurrying our way. As she got closer I recognized Sandy.

"Hey." I greeted her as I got out of the car to help.

"Ryan!" She dropped all her luggage and ran into my arms.

"It's so good to see you." I told her pulling back and grabbing her luggage.

"You too." She helped pick up some of the bags she had dropped.

"Where's Don?" I asked as I took some of the bags from her.

"He decided to wait inside for Troy and Sharpay." she sat against the trunk I had just closed.

"You hair?" I suddenly realized as I stopped to look at her.

"What do you think?" She stood up so I could see better.

"It looks beautiful." I complimented. Her smile seemed to grow larger.

"Thanks." She twirled a piece around her finger.

The two of us turned at the same second as we heard a gun shot.


	7. Chapter 7

"We need to go see if anyone was hurt." Troy helped me up from the ground. We slowly walked toward the entrance looking for anything unusual. I was horrified at the sight I saw by the door.

Blood pooled around a body and I could see the fresh blood splatters on the window.

"It's Don." Troy told me, his face was an expressionless mask.

I tried to move towards him but Troy pulled me back.

"Someone's after Don, they still think we're dead. If we go over there we risk exposure."

"We can't just leave him there."

Ryan and Sandy entered through the blood splattered door and dropped to their knees by Don.

"What happened?" They were trying to act like concerned bystanders. Sandy placed two fingers on his neck looking for a pulse. Then she carefully rotated him over onto his back.

"He's alive and the bullet went straight through." She told the people who stood there watching. She purposely didn't look our way. I could hear sirens start blaring. An ambulance was on the way.

Then I felt a new hand secure itself on my wrist and began to pull me in the other direction. Troy was too lost in his own horror to notice that I was being dragged away. The hand pulled me into a closet and shut the door behind me.

"You were supposed to kill him." a horrifying voice said.

"He moved at the last minute, I couldn't get the aim right and there was no time for a second shot." I played along.

"You'll finish the job, Shadow. You said you were the best and now it's your turn to prove it."

"Of course." It was too dark to see the voice's face.

"Good." His voice held a tone of familiarity.

"How do I contact you?"

"I'll meet you at this address in three days. You had better get the job done." He stuffed a piece of paper in my hand and was out the door too quickly for me to see him.

I waited several seconds before I left the closet. I didn't know how to process what was happening.

Who was Shadow? Why did they mistake her for me? Why did they want Don dead? Who were they?

I still couldn't find any answers to my question as I rejoined Troy. He was watching as they loaded Don onto a stretcher and took him out to the ambulance.

"Where did you go?" Ryan asked as he came to my side. He looked pale and shaken.

"I'll tell you later." I turned and headed out to the car. The three followed numbly behind me.

Sandy and Ryan were covered in blood and Troy looked like he was going into shock.

"I'll drive." I told them moving to the driver's seat. None of them looked like they should be driving.

"What happened?" Jessica asked when we entered the car. Troy explained in an expressionless voice.

It was while I was driving out of the parking lot that it hit me. Although there were many people who wanted Don dead, there was only one that would be desperate enough to try an assassination in public. It had to be the terrorist organization we had been trying to stop. They couldn't risk Don exposing them.

I couldn't go and meet with them if they thought that Don was still alive. I needed to fake his death somehow and I couldn't tell them what I was doing. There was no way they would go along with this. Not only was this dangerous and extremely risky but it also would leave me completely vulnerable. I couldn't go into this with back up, they would be watching for any sign Shadow would double cross them.

This was our chance to get someone on the inside and I was taking it. We could track down moles and possible people they were working with forever but that would only get us so far. What we needed was someone who knew how they worked and what their weaknesses were.

Don's death would be easy to fake. I would let the doctors stabilize him and then move in tonight. It would only take a couple of minor changes on the medical charts and everyone would think he was dead, from there I would call in a favor and get him our of the country to a place where he could recover.

If I resumed the roll of Shadow they would easily figure out that I was really Sharpay. What I needed to do was make them think that I was on their side and I had been working to help them all along. There was only one way I would pull it all off. I would have to make Troy and the others think I was betraying them.


	8. Chapter 8

**39 Hours**

"The doctor's say he'll make a full recovery." Sandy's voice came over the phone we had on speaker.

Ryan, Troy, Jessica, and I were back in the hotel room. We had dropped Sandy off at the hospital on our way back so she could check on Don.

"Are you going to stay there with him or come back?" Ryan was going through files as he talked.

"I'll stay here, just in case." She replied.

"Be careful." Ryan said as he flipped another file closed.

"Will do." The phone clicked.

"What now?" Jessica questioned. She was sitting at the table fixing her make up.

"We have to keep doing the job we started." Ryan had been all business since we left the air port.

"That's a brilliant idea. Let's see how many more assassination attempts we can get on our lives." Jessica put her make up down.

"He's right," I defended him, "We need to see what were up against and this is the best way. Between the three of us we can easily cover some good ground today."

"With Don in the hospital?" Her voice softened.

"We can't just sit here." Troy spoke up. He had been quiet since we left the air port.

I stood up and walked to the window. The view consisted of the building across the street but I couldn't bring myself to make plans with them. I reached a hand out and placed it against the cool glass.

"What do you think, Shar." Ryan's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Whatever." I turned my back to the window and faced them.

It took us fifteen minutes to pull ourselves together and get to the van. I tucked several wads of bills into a bag and placed several days worth of clothes. I wanted to get this packing done with.

Before I left to join them downstairs, I laid out all black clothes and a black mask on the bedspread. I needed to get Don out tonight.

"What took you so long?" Jessica asked when I joined them in the lobby.

"I don't know." I purposely didn't meet their eyes.

We walked silently to the van and climbed in. Jessica and I went to the back to put on our wigs and Troy and Ryan took the front seats.

"How can you stand to wear these things all the time? They're itchy and hot." Jessica complained.

"Guess it comes with the job." I did my best to make my tone defiant. She shot me a glare and then turned to talk to the boys in the front seat.

We pulled up to a big office building and I got out.

"I'll take this one. Meet me at that café in a half an hour?"

"Sure." Ryan agreed pulling the door shut.

I made my way to the bathroom at the main part of the building and entered, locking the door behind me. I pulled a cell phone from my pocket and leaned against the door.

"Hello?" A familiar voice asked.

"Hey, Is. I need a favor.

**********

I dropped Jessica off at the curb of the next building on our list and then parked in a parking garage at the other side of the street for the time being.

"What do you think is going on with Sharpay?" Troy asked when we had stopped.

"No idea." I didn't look at him. The conversation with Jessica was still fresh on my mind.

"You're her twin, aren't you supposed to have telepathy or something?" He asked.

"You're her fiancé aren't you supposed to know her better than anyone?" I shot back.

"Half our engagement we've been separated." He pointed out.

"Whose fault is that." I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth.

"I guess I should have just ignored the fact that someone was planning on taking over." His voice was calm now.

"you could have told someone." I got a hold of my own voice.

"That was a mistake." He admitted.

"I'm sorry, I'm just stressed out right now." I apologized.

"Me too."

Just then a phone buzzed.

"Hello?" I answered holding the phone to my ear.

"Another one's missing." Jessica's voice came over the phone.

"What?" I asked ignoring Troy's gestures to tell him what's going on.

"He's been missing for two weeks and no ones filed a missing persons report." She informed me.

"It sounds like the same pattern as the other one." I thought aloud.

"I'll meet you out front." She told me before she hung up.

"Another one's missing." I told Troy pulling out from the space.

"Why would they abduct them?" Troy inquired.

"I don't know."


	9. Chapter 9

"I don't know."

I pulled back around to the building and Jessica got in.

"Are we going to meet Sharpay now?" She asked pulling the wig from her head.

"We need to regroup." I confirmed pulling back into traffic.

It took us another 15 minutes to reach the café we had agreed to meet at and when we got there we saw Sharpay sitting at a table reading a newspaper.

"Anything new?" I asked when we reached her.

"Not in the news." She dropped the paper back on the table and pulled a nail file from her purse.

"What about at the office?" Jessica asked as she sat down in the seat next to Shar.

"He's just your average businessman." She continued filing her nails.

"Is everything ok?" Troy questioned after several silent minutes of Sharpay's nail filing.

"Fine." She put the nail file back in her purse and got up from the table. We followed her to the car and all climbed in.

"We have one more tomorrow and then we can decide what we're going to do from there." I informed them trying to fill the silence.'

"I'll take it." Sharpay volunteered.

"Are you sure your up to it?" I asked delicately.

"Of course." There was something off in her voice.

When we reached the hotel Sharpay was the first person out of the van.

"I'm going to just go to bed." She told us when we reached the lobby.

"It's a little early isn't it?"

"I'm tired." She turned and fled towards the elevator before we could say anything else.

"What's going on with her?" Troy asked the question we were all wondering.

**********

I reached my hotel room and hurried in checking once to make sure that Ryan and the others hadn't followed me. I already felt guilty enough about what I was going to have to do.

When I got inside the room I dressed in my all black clothes and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. I slipped my packed bag under the bed and stuffed the mask in my sleeve.

I couldn't risk running into them in the halls so I took the fire escape from the building and made my way down the street. Just as I turned the corner a black car pulled to the side of the road right by my side.

"There better be a good reason for this." A familiar voice said as she opened the passenger door for me to get in.

"When don't I have a good reason?" I asked as I got into the car.

"This is about the craziest thing you've ever asked me to do." She pointed out as she turned the car in the direction of the hospital.

"Trust me, Is."

Marissa "Is" Rodgers was the first partner I had been assigned. She and I had both graduated together. She was at least 4 inches taller than me with natural black hair and emerald eyes. She had left the CIA four years ago and now worked as the keeper of a safe house in Italy.

"Is he stable?" She asked as she pulled up to the hospital.

"Sandy said he was on the phone but he won't be for long if we leave him here."

"You want to tell me what's going on?"

"I can't but I will explain everything after this is over."

"You better." She got out of the car first and I followed her.

"How do we get past Sandy?" Marissa was focused on the task.

"She shouldn't be hard to distract."

"I'll get Don and you distract Sandy." She suggested.

"Ok."

We separated at the door. Marissa went towards the hospital room and I moved toward the waiting room. I was trying to decide how I was going to distract her when I passed a closet labeled "Scrubs". I wasted no time going inside and getting dressed in a pair of green scrubs. I pulled a mask on before I left the closet and made my way to the nurses desk.

"How can I help you?" The nurse sitting at the desk looked up.

"Dr. Jesse," I struggled to remember the doctor's name, "sent me to tell you that the patient in room 115 was just declared dead."

"That's too bad. I have some paperwork he has to fill out for the death certificate and there's a girl who was waiting to see him in the waiting room." Her voice lowered.

I took the paperwork from her outstretched hand, "I'll go talk to her after I get this to the Dr."

"Return it to me when he's done."

I nodded and turned to go down the hall toward the room. It wasn't hard to forge the paperwork and I had it back to her within fifteen minutes. She glanced over it and apparently satisfied turned to file it.

"Are you sure you want to go talk to the girl?" She asked when she turned back. I nodded again before walking into the waiting room.

"Hello?" Sandy looked up from the book she was reading.

"What's going on?" Alarm sounded in Sandy's voice. I forced myself to focus on my goal.

"I'm sorry Ms. But I'm afraid the man you came to see has passed away."

Tears gathered in her eyes, "That's not possible. He was supposed to make a complete recovery."

"I'm sorry." I repeated.

She placed her head in her hands and began sobbing. I forced myself to turn away and move to the exit. I had to get back before they noticed I was missing and I was sure that Melissa had gotten Don out by now.


	10. Chapter 10

_I appreciate all the reviews I have recieved. They really help me stay motivated to write another chapter._

"You'll take care of him?" I asked Marissa when she pulled up several blocks from the hotel.

"Of course." we both looked back at Don, who was laid out in the back seat. "I have a contact waiting at the air port to help me get him out."

"Thanks." I got out of the car and hurried back down the street. I made it up the fire escape and into the room just as I heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I called starting the shower and pulling a robe over the clothes I was wearing. I pulled the elastic that was holding my hair back out and tossed it by the sink.

"It's us." I heard Ryan call through the door.

"I'm in the shower." I fumbled with my socks and shoes trying to get them off.

"We're coming in, we have something we need to tell you."

I yanked the shoes and socks off and tossed them under the sink. I then closed the door and locked it, hoping to give me several more minutes.

"Sharpay?" Troy knocked on the bathroom door.

"One minute." I put my head under the faucet and let my hair get wet. After I had shoved the black clothes and shoes under the sink and tossed a towel over them I finally walked out of the bathroom.

"You'd better sit down." Ryan was pacing by the window. It was as he made another pass that I realized I had left it partially open.

"What's going on?" I made my way over to the window and leaned against it working with my hands to try to get it closed.

"It's Don." He looked at me with tears in his eyes. I forced the window another inch and finally had it closed.

"What's going on?" I repeated my question as I securely locked the window.

"Sandy just called from the hospital," he began, "Don didn't make it."

"What?" I moved from the window and collapsed in a chair. I then let all the tears flow that I had been holding back since I had realized I would have to lie to them.

"Hey." Troy wrapped his arms around me and I cried even harder. How could I even pretend to betray them?

"I have to tell you something." I finally said wiping the tears from my face. I couldn't stand seeing the pain that was written on their faces anymore. I would have to convince them that it was a good idea to let me impersonate Shadow, I couldn't lie to them.

**********

"Is the job done, Gabriella?" The boss asked me menacingly.

"Don's dead and there's no way the girl can resist the opportunity to find out who Shadow is. She'll come and meet me and it shouldn't be hard to abduct whoever this person is who's been asking so many questions."

"What if she doesn't show?"

"Then I have a surprise waiting for her in the elevator of the next building she'll check out. Then if she somehow manages to survive that then I have the meeting as backup. Whoever she is, she won't be around much longer."

"Good job. May be you will live up to your husband."

"Maybe." I smirked.

"You can go now." He dismissed me with a wave of his hand.

I turned and left without a backward glance.

"How did things go?" My husband asked me when I left the office.

"Not bad." I leaned up on my toes to kiss him.

"As soon as you get his trust then we'll make our move and take over the operation. Everyone else should fall into line after we take command." He smiled as he pulled away.

"It's too bad Sharpay and her brother aren't around to see us take over."

"Unfortunate indeed. I always hoped that I would be the one to kill her, not some freak accident."

"I have to go." I turned to leave. He didn't even spare me a farewell but I shook it off. Vulture wasn't one for long goodbyes.

**********

"Congratulations on your promotion." Vera said as she perched on the edge of my new desk.

"Thanks." I turned back to my work.

"Johnny?" she asked after several minutes.

"What?" I tried not to act annoyed.

"Have you met with Vulture?"

"We talked on the phone but he couldn't make our meeting."

"What do you think of his wife?"

"She's annoying."

"I thought so too."

"Goodbye Vera." I dismissed her with a wave of my hand.

"Oh, sorry I forgot you had work to do."

"I'll talk to you later."

She turned and left the room and I went back to work. This new job wasn't easy and I couldn't have distractions.

I looked out the window of the conference room where I was stationed. People went about their jobs as if nothing was wrong and none of them new that a group was planning to take over. They all felt secure and safe in obliviousness but I was trapped in this world. I knew exactly what was going on and couldn't think of a way to prevent it.


	11. Chapter 11

"I have to tell you something." I finally said wiping the tears from my face. I couldn't stand seeing the pain that was written on their faces anymore. I would have to convince them that it was a good idea to let me impersonate Shadow, I couldn't lie to them.

"Absolutely not." Ryan said as soon as I had finished the story.

"We can't keep chasing down every person with a shady past." I shot back.

"We can and we will."

Troy, Jessica, and Sandy, who had all joined us in the room, seemed stunned that the two of us were fighting.

"You are so stubborn!"

"I get it from my sister." he said after he had gotten control of his voice.

"This is the solution to the problem we've been working on." I let my voice come down to a normal volume.

"It's not even close to a good solution if it means getting you killed."

"I can take care of myself." my voice was rising again.

"But you're not invincible." he kept his voice even.

"We're wasting valuable time by tracking all of these people down."

"The time is worth it if it keeps you alive." Troy finally spoke up.

"I'm not a child and you can't protect me forever." I stood up and left the room slamming the door behind me.

**********

"The subject's moving." a man sitting at one of the computers in the van told me. I moved in closer so that I could see the screen. The girl was moving from the building down the street.

"Follow her." I demanded the driver. The tires screeched as he pulled out into traffic.

"Gabriella?" one of the men in the back asked.

"Yes?" I let my impatience seep into my voice.

"She just disappeared from the screen."

"What?"

**********

It was as I reached the stairs that I realized that I had just stormed out of my own room. I should have made them leave.

I made my way down to the lobby and out the door, onto the street. I didn't know where I was going, all I knew was that I needed some time on my own.

It was as I turned a corner that I realized that there was a van following close behind me. I crossed the street and turned another corner and the van continued to follow me.

I could feel panic start to well up inside of me.

"Stay calm." I told myself.

How could I get away from them? I moved faster, pushing myself to get farther away. It was when I turned another corner that I decided what to do.

I made my way an alley across the street and saw what I was looking for. The old rusty fire escape ladder looked anything but safe. I didn't stop to contemplate how dangerous climbing the ladder could be. Instead I pulled it down and began to climb.

The entire way I could feel bolts slowly moving away from the building. I held my breath and hoped it wouldn't fall.

With one last screech the ladder gave from the wall and I barely had time to grab the edge of the building. I was hanging by one hand from an old building that looked like it would crumble to the ground any minute.

I could feel my fingers began to slip. I slowly reached my other hand up and moved it along the wall until I found a hand hold. When both of my hands were on the building I used my legs to form momentum and pushed myself up onto the roof.

I leaned my back against the wall and caught my breath. What did I do now?


	12. Chapter 12

"We should go after her." Troy said after she had been gone for several minutes.

"Give her some time to cool down." I suggested calmly.

"Ryan, maybe she's right." Sandy suddenly said as she looked up from the floor.

"She didn't get to be known as the best for nothing." Jessica grudgingly added.

"But just because she's the best doesn't mean she can't get hurt." I pointed out.

"It means she has more of a chance of not getting hurt." Jessica rose to her feet, "It's common knowledge that Sharpay and I don't get along but that doesn't mean that I don't see all the missions she's successfully completed, nobody has a record like hers. Ryan, you're her brother, it's ok to be protective but you can't let that blind you of what she is capable of and Troy you're her fiancé, you should support her, not hold her back. It's no wonder she kept this from you. Do you want her to tip-toe around you for the rest of your lives?" Jessica flung a strand of strawberry hair behind her ear before she stalked out of the room without a backward glance.

"I'm not saying that all that Jessica said was right, but I think she was right with most of it." Sandy hesitantly told us. She then got up and made her way out the door.

"Maybe they're right." I allowed after a minute of silence.

"Maybe." Troy agreed quietly.

"I'm going to go try talking to Jess and Sandy."

"I'll go see if I can find Sharpay." Troy volunteered.

The two of us split off at the door, Troy went to the stairs and I went towards the girl's rooms.

I could hear angry voiced sounding through their door and it sounded nothing like Jessica and Sandy.

**********

I was still sitting on the old roof nearly 20 minutes later. I didn't want to risk being found again when I got down and honestly I had no idea how to get down. As far as I could tell there was no other way down, besides the fire escape.

After several more minutes of just sitting there I forced myself to get up and examine my surroundings. The roof looked like it had caved in, in several places and I could tell the building was abandoned.

I moved toward the middle of the roof, trying to avoid the places that looked like they were ready to collapse.

When I reached the middle I found a shattered skylight that, as far as I could tell, was the only light source in the building. I crouched down to see how far I would have to jump to reach the bottom and found that if I did jump I would land in a pile of glass.

I checked the rest of the roof, looking for anyway down that wouldn't involve landing in sharp glass and found none.

I used my shoe to clear the remaining glass by the sky light and then used my hands to lower myself into the building. I could hear the glass crunch under my shoes as I let go of the edge.

The inside of the building was in worse shape than the outside. Several of the stairs appeared to have broken in and there were missing floorboards everywhere.

I made my way over the gaps of empty air that the floorboards had once covered and tried to make my way to the stairs.

When I finally reached them I found that they were in worse shape than I had thought. There was no way I could get down them without hurting myself.

I tested the railing with one hand and found that it wasn't any sturdier than the rest of the building. I placed one foot on the top stair and then moved my other foot onto it. The stair held but creaked and groaned under my feet. I moved one foot down to the next remaining stair and had to fight to keep my balance as the stair went toppling to the ground.

"Whatever happened to stone stairs?" I complained to myself as I continued my deadly decent down the hazardous staircase.

When I finally placed both feet on the next floor a flood of relief went through me, which was quickly replaced with fear when I saw what was in the next floor.

**********

"How does a person just disappear?" I let venom seep into my voice.

"I don't know, we had her a minute ago." he stammered as he fiddled with the screens and keyboards.

"That's not good enough, I need to know where she is now."

"The only way we could have lost her was if she was in the air." another stammering computer person said.

"So you think she just grew wings and flew off?"

"We're doing everything we can." another one told me. They managed to keep they're voice from wavering.

"Figure it out now." I let my voice become deadly calm.


	13. Chapter 13

I could hear angry voiced sounding through their door and it sounded nothing like Jessica and Sandy.

I hesitated a moment before I knocked.

"Answer it and get rid of however it is." a strange voice snarled.

Sandy was the one to answer the door. She kept it partially closed so that I couldn't see inside the room. I was shocked by her appearance. There was a jagged cut that went from the beginning of her hair line down to her eyebrow and was partially hidden by hair. I couldn't tell whether it was deep enough to scar or not. There was a bruise that ran from her jaw down to her throat.

"What happened?" I asked as I slipped my foot in the door, in case whoever was in there tried to close it.

"I fell down the stairs." I could see the pleading look in her eyes as she stared at me. "Help." she mouthed.

"Why don't you come with me? We should get that cut checked out." I turned myself so that my back was against the door.

"Get rid of him." the voice snarled. I could hear it from behind the door.

I pushed on the door and it flew open and hit the man behind the door. Jessica, who had been gagged and tied, was being guarded be a second man. Sandy moved across the room and threw the lamp by the door at him. He ducked and managed to dodge it just as Jessica flung herself from the chair and slid across the floor toward us.

The lamp shattered at impact to the floor and the man placed his hands over his face to protect it. Sandy used the opportunity to move over and disarm him.

Within 15 minutes the two were tied to two chairs and we were cleaning up the shattered lamp.

"Would you like to tell me what happened?" I asked as we slid the rest of the glass in the garbage.

**********

When I finally placed both feet on the next floor a flood of relief went through me, which was quickly replaced with fear when I saw what occupied the next floor.

It looked like a control room with computers hooked up to a generator and filing cabinets lining the wall.

I moved over to the filing cabinets and tried all the drawers, every one was locked. Each of the computers required a password to get in and I had no idea what to use. As a matter of fact I had no idea who used this abandoned building.

I found a small card on the floor tucked under one of the chairs. I reached down and picked it up. On the paper was a drawing of a vulture that looked ready to dive in for the kill.

A surge of terror went through me as I recognized Vulture's symbol.

**********

"Do you know why I was nicknamed vulture?" I asked Johnny as I sat in his office.

"I suppose you're going to tell me?" he didn't look intimidated, or even interested in what I had to say.

"You're about to find out." I set a card with the picture of a vulture on it in his hand before turning and leaving the office without a second glance.

**********

"Figure it out now." I let my voice become deadly calm.

"Gabriella, we're trying as hard as we can but it that's not good enough than maybe you'd like to do it yourself."

"Are you challenging me?" I let some of my fury come into my voice.

"You couldn't do this job by yourself." he pointed out as he took his hands from the keyboard. I could see all the other tech guys watching us.

"Would you like me to talk to my husband?"

"Can he do the job I'm doing?" the man had a smile on his face.

"Do you think you're funny?" I wasn't used to people talking back to me.

"I think you're a joke." he stood up from his seat and got out of the van, that had been pulled to the side of the road while they were searching.

"We resign, perhaps we can find someone who will appreciate our knowledge?" one of the other men said. They all followed him from the van.

"Are you going to leave too?" I barked at the driver.

"Now that you mention it I think I will." the driver leapt from the vehicle and hurried after the men. Leaving me completely alone in the van.

"What am I supposed to do now?" I demanded of the empty van.


	14. Chapter 14

**24 hours**

_Ryan's POV_

"Would you like to tell me what happened?" I asked as we slid the rest of the glass in the garbage.

"They were waiting down the hall from our rooms. They came up behind us after we got the door open, and had a gun pointed at our head." Jessica's voice was shaky. She sat at the edge of the bed and stared at the floor.

"What should we do with them?" a much calmer Sandy asked.

"put them in the bathroom and put the "do not disturb" sign on the door until we decide what to do with them." Jessica suggested when she had composed herself.

"Good thinking." Sandy agreed as she got up to go to put the sign on the door. Jessica and I pushed the men into the bathroom without letting them out of the chairs.

"That should hold them for a while." Jessica said in approval.

"We have to find out who they work for and what they want." I told the two as I took a seat in the one remaining chair.

"We can't let them go, they saw you." Sandy added.

"We can't leave them in the bathroom forever. I need to shower, and use the mirror to put on my make up." Jessica was quick to inform us.

"Did you ever think that I might need to use the bathroom for things too?" Sandy inquired as she placed her hands on her hips.

I leaned back in my chair and prepared for a long fight. The two were famous for getting into long arguments.

_Sharpay's POV_

A surge of terror went through me as I recognized Vulture's symbol.

I placed the card back on the floor where I had found It and hurried in search of a way out of this building. I was sure I still had a few more floors to go before I could get out onto the street.

The stairs were tucked around a corner, and they looked much safer to use then the other ones I had tried to descend.

I moved down the stairs quickly. I just wanted to get out of the building and back to the hotel.

What I found at the end of the stairs made me question whether I wanted to go back or not.

_Johnny's POV_

Vulture's words seemed to echo through the office after he had said them.

Although I had tried to act like I was unaffected, I truly was afraid of him. I had been Sharpay's partner when she had cut his face. I could remember how mad he was at her and I was sure she was terrified of him. Even from down the hall where I had been coming toward her I could hear the man's screams of rage.

If only Sharpay were alive to help me. She and her brother had always been able to fix these complicated situations.

For now I would have to hope that I could get help from Jessica Lawson, who had hated me ever since I broke up with her 2 years ago. She had last been spotted at a hotel and I had no reports of her leaving. I knew that Vulture had sent someone to keep and eye on them. We had no idea what they were doing and who they were working with.

I grabbed the suit case I had tucked under my desk and packed up the things I would need. From there I went out to the taxi I had called to pick me up. I couldn't risk being followed so I had left anything that could be traced behind.

I had to hope that she would still be willing to help me.

_Troy's POV_

I had been searching for Sharpay for what felt like forever. I had expected to find her at one of the restaurants down the street or even just sitting at a bench acting mad, but I couldn't find her anywhere.

I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed her number. I waited and let it ring for several minutes.

"Hello?" I could hear Sharpay's voice on the other line.

"Where are you, Shar? I can't find you anywhere."

"I'm in some old abandoned building." she hesitantly said.

"What?" That was the last place I expected her to be.

"I'll be back to the hotel in a little while." she told me. I could hear the irritation coming into her voice.

"Ok." I agreed, remembering the conversation we had after Sharpay had stormed out.

The phone clicked and I got a dial tone.

I turned and began making my way back to the hotel. I knew she could take care of herself, I just needed to remember that more often.


	15. Chapter 15

**22 Hours**

_Sharpay's POV_

What I found at the end of the stairs made me question whether I wanted to go back or not.

It looked like a completely normal living room. There was no sign of the broken building I was expecting it to look like.

Instead there were white walls that smelled freshly painted. Two leather sofas took up most of the room and a nice coffee table sat between them. On the walls hung pictures of Vulture's and Gabriella's wedding. There weren't any windows, but other than that it looked like any other living room.

I pulled out my phone as I felt a vibration.

"Hello?" I answered carefully picking my way through the room.

"Where are you, Shar? I can't find you anywhere." Troy's voice came across the line.

"I'm in some old abandoned building." I answered hesitantly.

"What?" I could hear the worry in his voice.

"I'll be back to the hotel in a little while." I told him. I let my irritation seep into my voice.

"Ok." He agreed.

I hung up the phone and placed it back in my pocket.

I moved to the door at the far end of the room and slowly opened it. Behind it was a fully furnished apartment. One entire floor of the old building had been turned into living space.

I moved over to the next staircase and moved down to the last floor.

The last floor looked just like the others. It looked run down and uninhabited.

Who was living here?

I didn't have time to finish my thought. I could feel the air whoosh past me as something heavy hit me in the head, causing everything to go black.

_Ryan's POV_

I had always known when something was wrong with Sharpay. Whether she was feeling down or if something was physically wrong with her. Right now I could tell something was seriously wrong with her.

"Stop." I demanded of the bickering girls as I tried to find out what was wrong with Sharpay.

They froze and both stared at me.

"What's the matter?" Sandy asked.

I didn't answer her. I just kept focusing on what was wrong.

A knock on the door shattered my concentration.

"I'll get it." Jessica said quietly. She moved over to the door and opened it a crack. Troy slipped into the room and stood by Sandy.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Did you find Sharpay?"

"No, she said she was on her way back."

"How long ago?"

"30 minutes, maybe."

"Did she say where she was?"

"An abandoned building." I could see the worry cloud over Troy's face.

"We need to go find her. Something's wrong." I could feel panic welling up inside me.

"There are tons of abandoned buildings here." Jessica's tone was on the edge of despair. Her usual façade had disappeared.

"She can't be all that far from here." Sandy mused as she pulled a map from her suitcase. I was too lost in my own world to wonder why she kept a map of the city in her suitcase.

"Troy and I will check out this section of the city and you and Sandy can check out this section." Jessica assigned as she pointed to the areas on the map.

In other circumstances I never would have let Jessica go off with Troy. Sharpay would be furious and I had never gotten around to talking to them about why Troy hadn't said they were engaged, but all I thought now was that I needed to find Sharpay.

"Ok." I agreed quickly as I surveyed the best routs in the area.

Sandy and I hurried from the room with Jessica and Troy on our tail.

I just hoped we could get to her in time.


	16. Chapter 16

**21 hours**

_Sharpay's POV_

I couldn't breath. As I forced my eyes open I found that I was trapped in a box of some kind. Several cracks were allowing water to fill the box. I pushed against a side, but it wouldn't open.

I couldn't see anything. I was trapped in darkness with water flooding the only space I had.

"I would never live to get married." the thought entered my mind with a wave of panic. Troy would marry Jessica and they would never know what happened to me.

I forced myself to calm down and look at this carefully. There had to be a way to get out of this.

I reached for my pocket and found my cell phone still tucked there. I pulled it out and found, with relief, that I had several bars. I punched in the familiar number and hoped he would pick up.

"Shar?" Troy asked from the other line.

"Troy." I let all my relief flood into my voice.

"Where are you?" I could hear the worry.

"I don't know. I'm in a box of some kind and there's water."

"Are you ok?"

"For now." I could feel the water rushing in around me.

"Water? Like a river, or the ocean, or a lake?"

"I don't know." the despair was back.

"Focus, Shar, there must be something."

"I'd guess a river. It's the nearest body of water and the nearest river goes right into the ocean. No one would ever find the body." I tried to say it professionally, but it came out as more of a sob.

"I'm coming. I'm going to find you." he sounded so worried.

The water had almost filled the box. In any minute it would claim the cell phone and I would be lucky to get a breath before the box was entirely filled.

"No matter what happens, I love you Troy." I told him.

"I love you too and." but he was cut off as the water hit the cell phone and the cell phone died. Would I ever know what else he was going to say?

I pushed myself to the top and took one last breath before the box was entirely filled.

_Ryan's POV_

"The river, are you sure?" I demanded of Troy on the other line of the phone.

"She said she thought it was the river."

"I'll meet you there. We have to get to her." I repeated the thing we all were thinking. I shoved the cell phone back in my pocket and hurried down the street. I was a step away from running.

"What's going on?" Sandy asked as she hurried to catch up with me.

"Shar called Troy and said that she was in a box in some kind of water. She thinks it's the river." I didn't stop to talk to her.

"Why wouldn't they just toss her in the ocean from the dock?" she was running to keep up now.

"Too many people would have the chance to see the box if he threw it in on the dock. They could find a private place along the river and toss the box in. It would flow into the ocean and no one would find her." I explained the theory.

She gave up conversation as she continued to fight to keep up with me.

I had to get to Sharpay in time. I couldn't lose my only sister.

I made it to the river's edge in much more time than I had hoped. What if I was too late?

"We'll spread out and follow the current. Look under the water. If the box filled up it wouldn't float." I directed as I hurried down the edge looking for any sign of my sister.

"What's that?" Sandy called from a short ways back.

I turned around and ran back to see what she was looking at.

The box was constructed of wood and was big enough to hold a person. It was bobbing along the water's edge.

I ran into the water and grabbed it pulling it to the shore. Sandy helped me pull the box onto the muddy bank and we yanked the lid open.

It had been nailed tightly shut, but between the two of us we were able to pull it out enough to make a crack and we turned it over to let the water get out.

The water came out in a flood forcing the box open all of the way. I forced the lid to the side and reached in to pull out my sister.

But what I found wasn't in any way my sister.


	17. Chapter 17

20 hours

_Ryan's POV_

But what I found wasn't in any way my sister.

"Johnny." I shook the limp man I had pulled from the box.

"I'll take care of him, you go find your sister." Sandy told me as she reached down to check for a pulse.

I moved down the waters edge searching carefully for another box. It would have sunk by now, I was sure of that.

How much time had I wasted retrieving the box that held Johnny, a traitor? Was Sharpay still alive? Had I saved him instead of my sister?

Questions and thoughts swam around in my head, as I frantically searched the water for my missing sister.

_Johnny's POV_

My first sense of awareness was a splitting head ache. My second was that I was soaking wet.

"Johnny?" a woman's voice called.

I tried to speak, but instead fell into a fit of coughs. The coughs shook my body as I tried to extract the water from my lungs.

"He's alive." the woman's voice said again.

My throat felt raw and swollen. I doubted I would ever get the ashy taste out of my mouth.

I forced my eyes open and found that a blond woman hovered above me. It took me a moment to recognize her.

"Sandy." my voice sounded as bad as I felt.

"Johnny." her voice was emotionless.

"Where am I?" I shifted to look around, but only made myself have another fit of coughs.

"We're at the side of a river bank." she said it conversationally, but her eyes wandered around as if she were looking for something, or someone. Was she working for one of the people that wanted me dead?

"What happened to me?" my voice sounded steadier.

"I just pulled you out of the river. Someone put you in a box with holes in it and threw you in."

"Vulture." I spat the name with as much distaste as I could muster.

"Who do you work for?" her gaze became deadly and intense as she stared down at me.

"I work for the CIA, same as you."

"You expect me to buy that? Not even a week ago you were the director, and I'm well aware that the CIA is being controlled by terrorists."

"If I hadn't gone along with it, they would have killed me."

"You think I don't see right through you? You've been working for them all along. You were the mole that everyone thought Troy was."

"You wouldn't believe anything I say. You were never very reasonable. If Sharpay were alive, she would believe me." I had no idea where I was bouncing around too.

"It's too bad she's dead then. I bet you're the reason behind that too." she accused as she continued to scan the river.

"I would never have hurt Sharpay." I stated firmly.

She glanced back down and met my gaze.

"You love her." she said when her eyes met mine.

_Ryan's POV_

The more time that went by the more frantic I became.

"Shar, where are you?" I asked the river as I continued scanning it.

Was her air gone now? Was she still alive?


	18. Chapter 18

_Ryan's POV_

The sun was beginning to go down and I knew that as soon as the sun set I would never have a chance of finding her. I had to move fast.

I returned to moving along the riverbank keeping my eyes on the flowing river. She had to be in there somewhere. The farther down river I went the deeper the water became. In the fading light I found myself squinting to see the river at all.

The water was murky and unclear. Even if I did find the place she was, there was no guarantee I could even see the box.

Then I saw the figure that was bobbing at the surface, trying to fight the current that pushed her towards the ocean.

"Shar?" I called out hoping she could see me.

The figure just continued bobbing. I could tell it was human by the shape and the way the light glinted off the muddy, dirty black hair.

I moved into the water wading as far as I could go, without being carried away myself. I moved forward and soon found myself fighting the current with as much force as I could muster to reach the bobbing person.

"Shar?" I continued calling repeatedly. Why wasn't she answering.

Finally I grabbed a hold of a perfectly manicured limp hand and pulled the figure to me.

"Sharpay?" I asked as I rotated the figure so I could see her face.

To my absolute relief it was my missing sister. Her face was like ashes and her skin felt as cool as ice, but I could see the soft pulse at her throat and hear the shallow hard rasps of breath as she inhaled and exhaled. I was sure she had swallowed water, but my focus was currently on getting us back to shore.

"Wake up." I demanded of my unconscious sister as I continued to pull her toward shore. I was working at a diagonal, so I wouldn't have to work against the current.

"Ryan?" Troy suddenly called from the shore as he watched me try to keep my sister above the surface while moving toward shore.

In an instant he was in the water, fighting to get to my sister. He reached me just as I could feel my hands going numb from the icy water.

"Is she ok?" he asked as he took her from me.

"She has a pulse and she's breathing, if only barely." at this point I wasn't making any commitments.

We got to shore and collapsed. I could feel my muscles tensing from the freezing water and I immediately began worrying about hypothermia.

"We have the van warmed up. Let's get you inside." Jessica greeted us as she paused to distribute blankets.

Troy had turned Sharpay over onto her back and was repeatedly pushing down, trying to get her to cough up the water. After several minutes she finally began coughing.

She sounded weak and her cough was raspy and rough. She coughed up and enormous amount of water, but I was relieved just to have her breathing a bit steadier. When she stopped coughing up water and we were sure we had gotten all of it out of her lungs we wrapped her in a blanket and Troy carried her to the van.

"Where's Sandy?" I asked Jessica, who was sitting in the passenger seat while I drove.

"She drove to the hotel in the other car with Johnny. He's still not aware that you're alive and we don't know if it's really a good idea to correct him." she was toying with a strand of hair as she watched the road in front of us.

"What's going on?" Sharpay's weak voice came from the back.

Relief flooded through me in that instant and I could see the same relief reflected from Jessica's face. Maybe she wasn't as bad as we all thought she was. At least she cared enough that she didn't want Sharpay to die, and that was a start.


	19. Chapter 19

**15 hours**

_Sharpay's POV_

"I feel fine." I insisted from where I was laying on the hotel bed.

"What if you get hypothermia? Or we didn't get all the water out of you lungs?" Ryan had worked himself into a frenzy.

Troy sat silently in the corner. He hadn't spoken since I woke up. Jessica and Sandy were watching Johnny in the other room.

"I just need a hot shower and a couple of hours of sleep and I'll be good as new." I insisted as I pulled my aching muscles from the bed.

I had managed to pound my way out of the box and swim to the surface. I was sure I would have deep muscle bruises that would take weeks to heal.

"Are you sure? Maybe we should have you checked out by a doctor."

"Ryan, I'm living, I'm breathing, and I'm still in soaking wet clothes that smell like the bottom of the river. Now's not the time to have a nervous break down." I pushed my way past him and grabbed my bag of clothes before I slammed the door shut behind me.

I turned on the water and set my robe on the counter by my towels. I could hear voices through the bathroom door.

"What if…..?" Ryan was saying as I pressed my ear to the door.

"Ryan, she's fine. Breath and calm down." Troy insisted.

"Your right. Wait, why aren't you worked up about this?"

I missed part of his reply except for the two words "Love," and, "Jessica."

I could feel the air go out of me in a whoosh as I sunk down to the cold tile floor. This couldn't be happening. I forced myself to breath and ignore the feeling of my hear breaking.

I got into the shower and let the warm water wash away my aches, fortunately it didn't do much for my heart that felt like it had been ripped from my chest.

When I was sure that I had washed the last traces of the river from me I got out and dressed in a pair of jeans and a red long-sleeved shirt. I took the time to blow-dry my hair and do my make up. I did my best to cover the bruises, and when I was done there was little evidence remaining of my near death experience.

"Do you feel any better?" Ryan asked anxiously when I got out of the bathroom. There was a strange look on his face that I couldn't decipher.

"Good as new." I repeated my earlier statement without meeting anyone's eyes.

My cell phone ringing shattered the silence.

"Hello?" I answered as I snagged the phone from my purse.

"Hey, Shar it's Marissa." Marissa's voice came from the other end.

"What's going on?" I perched myself on the edge of the bed and absently began tapping my foot.

"I just got a call from Selene, you remember her?" there was a serious edge to her voice that made me nervous.

"I remember, the one that betrayed us in Istanbul?" I closed my eyes.

"She called to gloat about killing Don."

"I thought that the "Shadow" was supposed to kill him."

"Not as she tells it and there's no way anyone could mistake the two of you, you both look completely different." I could see were this was going.

"You think it was staged?" I absently began rubbing one of my bruises.

"It has to be a trap." she confirmed.

"Thanks for the heads up. Keep me updated."

"Will do." the phone clicked and I heard the dial tone.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked. Troy was sitting by the window.

"You were right about the shadow thing being a trap." I slipped the phone back in my bag and my hand stopped on a jewelry box that contained my engagement ring.

An acute pain went through the remains of my shattered heart.

"I'm going to go for a walk and get some air." I murmured as I grabbed my room key.

"You were just saved from drowning in a river, I don't think it's a good idea for you to leave the hotel." Ryan pointed out.

"I won't go far, I'll be back in a half an hour tops."

"I'll go with her." Troy finally spoke up.

"That won't be necessary." I let ice come into my voice. The both started at my voice.

Before they could regain there senses I left the room and hurried down the hall out of their sight.


	20. Chapter 20

_Sharpay's POV_

"You want to tell me what's wrong?" Ryan asked as he took a seat on the bench next to me in the hotel lobby.

"Do you ever regret become an agent?" I asked him as I played with the hem of my shirt.

"Sometimes." he admitted.

"I try to remember back to a time when things were normal and I can't."

"Shar, you were never normal."

"Maybe that's my problem. When this is over I'm done, I can't live like this anymore."

"Have you talked this over with Troy?" Ryan asked me as he looked at me in surprise.

"No, but it doesn't matter anyway because I'm not marrying him." I wiped several tears that had fallen down my face.

"You were just in a traumatic experience, you shouldn't be making life altering decisions right now."

"Ryan, I'm sick of this life of running and hiding. It was fun at first, the adrenaline rush and the different aliases, but now I'm through. I will not live my life like this anymore.

"We'll just see how things turn out." he said after several minutes of silence.

"Let's go get to work." I stood up from the bench, pulling him along with me.

"Shar, whatever you decide, I support you." Ryan told me before we moved to the stairs.

Jessica and Sandy were flipping through files and Troy sat working on a lap top when we entered the hotel room.

"What's our next move?" I asked as I perched myself on the edge of one of the hotel beds.

"We have two more people to check out. Once they're done we can pool our information and decide what to do from there?" Sandy looked up from the file she was reading.

"I'll do it." I kept my tone firm, the sooner this was over with the sooner I could be done with this.

"Is that really a good idea, you just about died?" Ryan pointed out.

"I'll be fine." I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and gave him an even look.

"Fine." he agreed after several minutes of us staring at each other.

"You better go get some sleep, it's going to be a busy day tomorrow." Sandy commented as she flipped a page.

"I'll see you in the morning." I forced a smile on my face and moved back toward my room.

The next morning dawned much faster then I had hoped, but I forced my aching muscles out of bed and got ready for my mission.

"This will be my last mission." I promised myself as I took the elevator down the lobby.

"Ready to go?" Ryan had a forced smile on his face. I could tell things had become tense between everyone.

"I'm ready." I insisted as we moved from the lobby out to the van.

"You're a journalist named Alison Green." Ryan briefed me on the ride there.

"I'll be fine, Ry." I forced a laugh at his worry. I could tell I wasn't fooling anyone, but things were too tense for anyone to call me on it.

"Wish me luck." I got out of the van and moved toward the building.

I'm Alison Green, from _National Geographic. _I have an appointment to talk to Mr. Johnson." I leaned against the receptionists desk tapping my fingernails on the edge.

"I'm sorry, but I don't see your name on his list of contacts." she told me.

"I made the appointment last week." I insisted.

"What did you say your name was, maybe I can schedule you another appointment. We don't have any openings until Friday." the annoyingly nice receptionist continued to smile.

"I don't need another appointment." I gave her a glare I had saved from my ice queen days and turned to walk back toward the elevator.

"Wait," She called after me, "Mr. Johnson hasn't been in all week. I have no idea where he is or who he had appointments with."

"I'll call and reschedule for next week." I said finally turning to go again.

I pressed the button on the elevator and entered just as a man hurried out. I could feel a chill go down my spine but I ignored it.

When I once again reached the lobby I pulled out my cell phone.

"One more missing." was my only greeting.

"That makes three, what are they doing?"

"If you figure it out give me a call. I have to check one more place and then I'll be on my way." I flipped the phone shut and slipped it back into my pocket.

At the nearest trash can I pulled the red wig from my head and threw it away. Lucky for me nobody noticed.

I cut through some small park and headed towards another office building. I was really getting tired of this.

As soon as I entered I went to the bathroom and in a plastic bag left on the counter found my next wig with a note:

_Be careful, Shar._

_Love You,_

_Troy_

I smiled before slipping it into the garbage with the plastic bag. I took my time putting the light brown wig on. After I was sure it was secure I left and headed toward the elevator.

So far so good.

I entered and hit the button for my floor. I was alone in the elevator, which could either be good or bad.

Suddenly the elevator stopped and the lights began to flicker. I grabbed the wall just as it started falling picking up speed.

The cable had been cut! I held on and hoped it would stop but the chances didn't look good.

Suddenly the elevator came to a stop.

"Emergency breaks." I breathed as I looked for an exit.

The elevator shifted again, causing me to fall to the floor, hitting my head hard. The edges of my vision blurred and then everything went black.


	21. Chapter 21

When I finally began to drift into consciousness I became aware of the hard floor I was lying on.

Every bruise seemed to ache and I had a headache that was inches away from being called a migraine.

"Are you sure she's ok?" a menacing voice asked.

"Her heart and breathing are normal and besides a slight concussion she should be fine." another voice answered.

My eyes slowly fluttered open and took several minutes to adjust to the lighting.

"Where am I?" I asked as I began to feel the ropes that dug into my arms and legs. I was dizzy and my vision seemed blurred.

"You're where no one will ever find you." the first voice told me. I felt a pinch in my arm and everything went black again.

The next time I woke up I could tell I was in a different place. Whatever I was laying on wasn't as hard as the floor had been and my head had stopped spinning.

I once again forced my eyes open and found that I was in a plane.

The men that I had awoken to were nowhere in sight, but sitting in a chair by me was none other than Gabriella.

"You just had to meddle in other people's business," her voice was just as sickeningly sweet as it had always been, "Oh well, it doesn't really matter now anyway."

"What do you want with me?" I asked as I tried to stay calm.

"It's not what I want with you. It's what Vulture wants with you." she watched me as if waiting to see if I would try to escape.

"And what is that?" I kept my voice firm.

"You'll just have to wait and find out." she smiled, a chilling smile.

I felt another pinch and this time everything seemed to spin before I faded into darkness.

I couldn't tell how much time had gone by when I came into awareness again. I couldn't feel my bruises, but I could tell that I was lying on concrete.

I listened for any sounds before I cautiously opened my eyes and was greeted with darkness. I wiggled my arms and legs and I was no longer tied up.

I let my hands trace the walls and realized I was in a cell of some kind.

"Hello?" I called out. The darkness was intimidating and I didn't have the slightest clue of where I was.

There was no answer. It went on like this for what I could only assume was days. Things seemed to blur together, I was starving and thirsty, but I had no way to measure how long I had gone without eating.

I tried to go over details in my mind. I went through my childhood with Ryan and then went through high school. I thought back to training and all of my many missions. I finally allowed myself to think of how Troy had come back into my life. I went over the time we had dated and when he proposed to me.

The only thing that kept me fighting through that darkness was the thought of getting back to my brother, and Troy. Even if he didn't love me anymore, I still loved him and I would fight through this just so I could see his face and his blue eyes again.

Finally, after a length of time that I couldn't even begin to guess at, someone slipped food and water through a metal slot. I hurried over and forced myself to eat it slowly, I couldn't throw it all back up. I was smarter with the water, choosing to ration it out and make it last.

After another long period of time the door came open, flooding my cell with light that blinded my eyes. It took me several minutes to adjust to the light, and by the time I did, someone had roughly forced me to stand up and I was in hand cuffs being forced down a hallway.

"Where am I? Who are you?" my voice was rough with disuse, but I was relieved to see that I could still talk.

The men refused to answer my questions and I was finally tossed into a room where I hit the ground hard and the door was slammed behind me. I stood up and moved to one of the two chairs in the room looking around at the plain white walls and the single barred window.

"Sorry to have taken so long." Vulture stepped into the room, wearing a nice suit and with a pile of papers in his hands.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice coming out shaky, but not as rough as it had earlier.

"Ms. Evans, I believe that we have a wonderful opportunity to cooperate and work together." he took the seat across from me and watched my face carefully.

"I will never work for you." I spat back as I met his gaze with a glare.

"That is where you are wrong. You will refuse at first, but after several more months of the treatment I have been giving you, you will be willing to oblige."

"Months." I choked out, wondering how long I had really been gone.

"That's right, you've been gone for almost a month and a half." his tone was still even and smooth.

"What happened to my family? My friends?" I asked desperately.

"Ms. Evan's, you have no family and friends," he slipped the papers onto the table and showed me a picture, "Your boyfriend, Troy, has married your friend Jessica. Ryan was even promoted to director."

I looked down at the pictures he was showing me. Ryan wearing a suit of some kind and entering the CIA building and Jessica and Troy on their wedding day.

"This isn't possible, they were working to take down the people who were trying to take control of the CIA." I forced myself to look away from the pictures.

"And they succeeded. Thanks to some anonymous tip," he paused to smile at me, "they were able to go in and remove the moles and everything is functioning as it should now."

"Why would you give up your hold on the CIA?" I asked as I looked down at my shackled hands in my lap.

"I got what I needed from it." he didn't elaborate further.

"And what was that?" I tried to keep the conversation going as I thought back to my dark cell.

"Maybe, when you decide to work for me, I'll tell you." he made a gesture towards the door and the same two men entered grabbing me again.

"We'll talk again soon." he called after me as I was forced out of the door. I was once again thrown into the cell where the door was closed and I was left in darkness.

When I was sure that the men were gone, I finally let myself cry. All I had wanted was a normal life and now look at what I had.

I had no choice. I would let this go on for a little while and then I would pretend to cooperate. After I was sure I was in, I would contact the CIA and hope that I could talk to someone I trusted. From there I was almost sure that I would be required to work as a double agent.

My dreams of settling down and having a normal life was gone. I had gotten myself into this world too deeply and this world wouldn't let me go.


	22. Chapter 22

_**6 months later**_

I slipped carefully into the building, careful not to attract attention to myself. I moved to the set of stairs and slipped up them, I couldn't bring myself to use an elevator after my last experience with one.

My key fit into the lock and I slipped it open, stepping inside the empty hotel room.

"I'm in." I whispered into the com as I moved across the room, checking under the bed and through his luggage for the lap top.

I stopped and looked around the room for another place he would hide it. My eyes finally settled on the closet, which I quickly opened.

It was concealed within a pile of blankets and I pulled it out setting it on the desk and opening to the screen which required a password.

"I need the password." I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited for an answer.

"Try counter fit." the person on the other end said.

I entered it and it opened to the main screen. I slipped the device into the side and cloned the hard drive.

"I've got it. I'll meet you at the extraction point." I grabbed the device and placed the lap top back. Hurrying from the room and down the stairs.

Relief flooded through me instantly as I got out of the building. I walked several blocks and then got into the car that was parked at the curb.

"Excellent job, Agent Evans." the man smiled as I took a seat. I resisted the urge to hit him and sat there in silence.

He pulled up to the house that I know thought of as my prison.

"We'll be in touch." he told me as I got out of the car and moved up the steps.

I entered "my" house and pulled the curtain back, watching him drive away. I then grabbed my coat and purse and hurried from the house.

I traveled almost a mile before I finally reached civilization. I stopped at the phone booth and dialed the familiar number, waiting for the call to go through.

"This is a secure line." a voice on the other side answered.

I told her my code name and agent number and waited as she sent my call to the director.

"Director Evans." Ryan answered the phone in a serious voice, that I wasn't used to.

"Ry, it's Sharpay." I looked around to see if they had managed to track me down yet. It was only a matter of time until they found me.

"Where are you?" his voice instantly filled with concern.

"I'm in Paris." I answered quickly, hoping he wouldn't see through the lie.

"I'm sending someone to come and get you." he told me.

"No. It's not safe, I'm not safe to be around anymore. I have to go, I'll call you as soon as I can." I placed the phone back on the hook and left the phone book. I ducked into the nearest store and purchased a loaf of bread before I moved back in the direction of the house.

I immediately saw when a car began following me and I pretended not to notice as I reached the house and entered tossing the bread on the counter and moving upstairs to my room.

I collapsed on the bed and finally allowed myself time to sleep.

* * *

**Ryan**

"Sharpay?" I asked into the telephone as I suddenly heard the dial tone. I slammed the phone back down on the hook and leaned back in the chair in frustration.

"Get me Agent Bolton and would you have Jackson run a trace on the last call I received?" I told my secretary when she came in to place several papers on my desk.

"I'll take care of it." she gave me a dimpled smile before she left my office.

"You wanted to see me?" Troy entered several minutes later. He looked tired and his eyes were blood-shot. He hadn't looked fully rested since Sharpay had disappeared almost 7 ½ months ago.

"How have you been?" I asked him.

"Ryan, you don't really expect me to believe you called me in here to enquire about my health." he folded his arms and watched me carefully.

"I just received a call from Sharpay." I told him.

"What? Where is she?" his eyes seemed to light up with emotion that he hadn't shown since she disappeared.

"I'm having Jackson run a trace on the call. I thought you deserved to know."

"I want to be part of the team that goes after her." Troy didn't take the hint that I wanted him to leave.

"With all due respect, I don't believe you can keep a clear head on this op." I told him.

"Ryan, you just told me that you have a lead on where my fiancé is. I haven't seen her in over 7 months." he pleaded.

"She's my sister too and I won't let you go, get distracted, and get her killed. You can go now. Would you tell my secretary to send me Sandy and Jessica?" I dismissed him looking back down at my paperwork.

"Yes, Director." he spat at me before leaving the office.

I turned to a pile of papers and began flipping through them while I waited.

"You wanted to see us?" Jessica and Sandy entered the office.

"I just received Intel that Vulture plans on stealing a weapon that Thomas Linkman has been working on. I need you to fly to Barcelona and meet with Thomas, see if you can get the weapon from him first." I explained the mission to them as I handed them two folders.

"Why aren't you briefing us in the briefing room?" Jessica became immediately suspicious.

"Because I don't want anyone else knowing about this. I still have reason to believe that there is a mole in this office and I can't risk this information getting out."

"We'll take care of it." Sandy reassured me as she and Jessica left the room.

I turned back to the endless piles of paperwork and tried to concentrate as I waited for Jackson to call me.

Finally, the phone rang and I quickly grabbed it off the hook.

"Director Evans." I answered.

"Director, this is Jackson. I tried to trace the phone call you asked me too, but it's virtually untraceable. Whoever made it was very careful to make sure that it couldn't be traced back to them."

"Thank you." I shoved the phone back again and closed my eyes.


	23. Chapter 23

"Agent Evans, I was very impressed with how well your last mission went." Vulture said as he played with a pen on his desk. I had to resist the urge to hit him.

"I would prefer it if you didn't call me that." I said instead as I bunched my hands in my lap.

"I have another assignment for you," he continued as if I hadn't spoken, "Thomas Linkmen, the same man I had you bug his computer, recently developed a weapon that we wish to acquire. Your job is simply to meet with him and do the negotiations."

"I don't have much of a choice." I glared at him.

"Your plane leaves in two hours. You'll meet him in Barcelona." he handed me a folder and I slipped it into my purse.

"Ok." I replied as I left the room and ignored the looks of the guards as I walked down the hall. I took the stairs and then entered the car outside of the building.

"Home, Ms. Evans?" the driver asked.

"Yes." I leaned back and watched the expanse of country that went by. It could easily be any number of places in the world and I still couldn't figure out exactly where I was at.

It only took him twenty minutes to reach my house.

"I'll wait here." he told me.

I didn't bother to reply as I got out of the car and entered the house. I took my time packing and then paused in the kitchen to eat an apple before I left.

It was scary how normal this felt. Getting ready for a mission and then completing it, it was a lot of the exact same work I had been doing before, the only difference was the guilt I felt when I would give the information to them. The knowledge that it could be used to hurt innocent people.

I scanned through the papers as I ate my apple and then grabbed my bag and left the house.

I took my seat in the back of the car and placed the bag on my lap.

I was tired and I wished that I was back home. Even the Evan's mansion in Albuquerque was a welcome place at this point.

When I reached the private plane that was owned by Vulture I was quickly ushered inside and left alone in the cab. I always got the feeling that I was being watched by tons of cameras that were placed in the plane, but had never looked.

I slept mostly for the ride and for the sake of show went through the motions of carefully looking through the file.

When we finally reached the air-port in Barcelona I was ushered into another car and driven to a hotel where I was given time to get ready for the meeting that would take place in several hours.

I paused in the act of slipping clothes back into my bag when I heard voices outside my door in the hall.

"Do you think she has any idea?" one of the men that had brought me here was saying.

"I doubt it. She may be good, but she's not that good. She's been carefully watched and never in any position where she could guess anything." a new voice answered.

"As soon as she's seen working willingly with a known terrorist organization she'll be changed from MIA to gone rogue. Her reputation will be shot and then Vulture can offer her to the CIA in exchange for him." the first man said quietly.

"He has this perfectly set up." the second man agreed.

I held my breath for several seconds as what they were saying sunk in. This was all a plan to convince them that I had betrayed them. If I was seen working for Vulture they would have no choice but to list me as a traitor.

I ran a hand through my hair as I thought of my choices. There was no way I could go through with this. I needed to get away and get back. Maybe, it would put everyone I cared about in danger, but I couldn't do this anymore.

I checked my purse and found that it had been emptied of my passport since we had left the air port. They had taken away any money I had and I was left to depend on them.

I closed my eyes as I tried to think of the nearest safe house. There had to be some way to escape from this.

I moved over to the only window in the room and looked out. A car sat waiting on the curb, a man was propped against it trying to look inconspicuous as he watched my room. I knew that going out the window wasn't an option.

I then considered the men at the door. What could I possibly do to get past them?

I picked up the phone from the bed side table and felt the beginning of defeat as I realized that not only had it been disconnected, but there was no way I could re-connect it.

I considered all of my other options before I finally decided on my only choice of action.

I turned on the water in the bathroom and slipped the hotel robe over my clothes. I then left the room and threw open the door.

"There's something in there." I told the men standing outside of my door as I made a show of looking terrified.

"What are you talking about?" one of the men asked.

"It's in the bathroom, and it's moving." I let my voice become louder and high pitched.

"You stay here and watch her and I'll check it out." the man that had been with me on the ride to the hotel told the other man.

"Thank you." I leaned against the door jam as he entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

I then hurried down the hall and around the corner before the other man could realize what was happening. I slipped past a stray cart of cleaning supplies, knocking several of them in the path behind me as I hurried to the stairs. I waited until I was several flights up to throw the bathrobe down onto the stairs on the flight below me.

I could hear the sounds of pursuit and voices as I pressed myself to go faster. I finally reached the roof and hurried to the edge, looking for the fire escape.

I slipped over the edge and onto the creaking stairs, just as the door to the roof opened.

I didn't waste any time hurrying down into the street and ducking into the next hotel building.

I jumped behind the counter to the front desk and pressed my back against it.

"I need to make a phone call." I said in Spanish as I listened for the men to finally catch up to me.

He hesitantly handed me the phone as he watched my strange performance and I quickly dialed the memorized number.

I quickly gave my agent information and then told them that I needed an extraction, trying to keep my voice low enough that no one could here me.

"Someone's on their way." the operator's voice told me.

"Thank you." I breathed as I hung up the phone.


	24. Chapter 24

I waited for the men to enter and attempt to take me captive, but they didn't. No one entered for the agonizing half hour it took for the team to get there.

"Agent Evans?" one of the men asked as I stepped out from behind the counter.

"Yes." I responded as I moved over to them to check the id he was holding.

"If you'll come with us you need to be examined and then we can send you home." the man told me.

"No offense, but after all I've been through I can't trust you. Until I see a familiar face I'm staying here." I told him firmly.

I took a seat on one of the couches that decorated the lobby and waited while he attempted to contact someone. It was another thirty minutes before two women hurried through the doors.

I almost didn't recognize them under the disguises they were wearing, but after looking closely I recognized them as Jessica and Sandy.

"Sharpay!" Sandy greeted me with a hug.

I stood stiffly until she released me and turned to the men, "I'm ready to go now."

I needed time to assess my feelings and emotions. I wasn't sure that I was ready to jump back into the way things had been before.

"Come with us, Agent Evans." the man guided me from the building.

I was examined by a doctor and after receiving a clean bill of health was allowed to shower and change into the CIA clothes they had with them. I then was escorted aboard a plane that would take me home.

It seemed unbelievable that I was really free from what had happened. That I was really returning home to see my brother and friends.

"How are you doing?" Jessica asked as she took a seat across from me. She had also cleaned up and returned to looking like she normally did.

"I've been better." I told her quietly, I wasn't mad at her as I had once been. After all I had been through I wanted to let go of all of my past feelings.

"I just thought you should know that I'm engaged," she showed me the ring on her finger, "to Johnny." she finished before I could say anything.

"When did that happen?" I asked as the first genuine smile I had shown in months crossed my face.

"I was assigned to interrogate him and he managed to work a deal with the government. With the knowledge he has he's become an asset and somehow along the way I fell in love with him." she shrugged as a smile crossed her face.

"I'm happy for you." I told her.

"Thank you." she looked down for several minutes before Sandy slowly came in and took a seat next to Jessica.

"How are you?" she asked carefully as she watched me.

"Better." I answered as I gave her a smile.

When we reached the airport we were escorted off the plane and into a car that drove us to the office.

I held my breath as we stepped into the elevator and I knew that my brother and Troy would be waiting for me on the other side.

Time seemed to stand still as the door slid open and I walked into Ryan's open arms.

"I'm so glad your back." he told me as he finally released me.

"So am I." I said.

"Shar," Troy began as I turned to him.

I cut him off with a hug and let myself enjoy having his arms wrapped around me.

"Can we move this into the conference room?" Ryan asked.

Troy, Ryan, and I moved into the conference room and took a seat in the chairs.

"I just need you to write a report on this and it can be over. If you chose to you don't have to work here anymore." Ryan told me.

"I need some time to think before I make a major decision and Troy and I need to talk." I looked down at my fingers twined in my lap.

"I understand." Ryan told me.

I couldn't believe it everything I wanted was in front of me. I had dreamed of having a normal life and now it was an option, now I had the choice of doing exactly what I had been wanting to do before I was kidnapped.

"What do you want to do, Shar?" Troy asked me later that evening as we sat on a bench in the park.

"I don't know. All I wanted that entire time I was away was to come back and have a normal life, but this lifestyle has become so much apart of me. I used to think that I regretted accepting this job, but now I see exactly what it's done for me."

"Whatever you choose, I'll support you." he told me quietly.

"Troy, a little while ago you asked me a question. One that at the time I accepted easily, but since then so much has changed, we've changed. I think we need to take a step back and reevaluate our relationship." I spit out the other thing that had been bothering me.

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly.

I carefully placed the box that contained the engagement ring into his hands.

"Give this to me after we've gotten to really know each other again." I said just as quietly.

It broke my heart to return the beautiful ring, but I couldn't marry him until we knew that it was what we both wanted. Until we were in the same place we had been when he gave me the ring the first time.

I walked away from the park to my car leaving Troy behind. He needed time to think and process what had happened and I needed a little bit of space.

I had just started the car when my cell phone began to ring. I pulled it from my pocket.

"Hello?" I answered as I paused in what I was doing.

"Agent Evans, this is Director McGhee and I have a proposition for you."

**6 Years Later**

"Hey." my husband, Troy's arms circled me as I finished the last of the dinner dishes.

"You're home early." I turned to face him as I twined my arms around his neck.

"I finished my report faster then I thought I would. Where's Charlotte?" he asked as he looked at the empty high chair.

"I just got her to sleep, she's stubborn." I laughed as I thought of our beautiful four year old daughter.

"Sounds like someone else I know."

"Did you hear that Ryan and Sandy are expecting a baby boy?" I asked. Ryan and Sandy had gotten married a year after Troy and I did.

"Ryan was running around the office with the ultrasound pictures." he chuckled.

Ryan, Troy, and I had been asked to join a covert operation unit shortly after I had gotten back. The hours and operations where much more flexible and it had allowed Troy and I to remain with the CIA even while we were having a family.

"I'm glad you came home early." I smiled as I closed the distance between the two of us and kissed him.

"Me too." he said as we finally pulled away and moved for the stairs.

We paused to look in at Charlotte. She had my blond hair and Troy's blue eyes. I couldn't have possibly been happier then I was in that moment.

"Do you think this one will be a boy or a girl?" I asked as I placed my hands on my stomach that was not yet showing the baby that was growing inside.

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to just wait and see."

"I hate waiting." I told him as we quietly closed the door to Charlotte's bedroom.

"Patience is a virtue." he smiled as we entered our own bedroom.

"What do you think of Patience for a baby girl's name?" I asked as I closed the door.

"I think that's a topic for another day." he kissed me, cutting off any further conversation.

_And we have finally reached the end. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read._


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